Tablesaw Bed Length

[Matt Walton]

So today we went out and bought the SawStop 1.75hp Professional Cabinet Saw. I hadn't looked at our saw closely when deciding between the 36" and the 52" fence, so I went for the 52" because I thought my current saw was a 36"; I have been frustrated several times by my saw not having a large enough capacity, so of course I decided to go with the 52". We got it home, and only then did I fully realize how massive a 52" saw would be. Turns out that my current TS has a 30" scale, and only goes to about 28".
All that to say: would you recommend keeping the 52" fence, or suck it up and drive back to North Dallas tomorrow and exchange it with the 36"? I feel like the difference between slightly over seven feet and slightly under six feet would be almost nothing compared to the rest of the saw, but on the other hand, my shop is just over 15' x 15'.

In other news, does anybody know how to unload a tablesaw from a pickup truck? :D

[johnny means]

I unloaded my ICS from the bed of my really tall 4x4 by sliding it down a jerry rigged ramp. A buddy and I got it done fairly easily with just some 2x10s connected with some cross pieces.

[Joseph Tarantino]

when it comes to table saw fences, big is always better. also, i did the same 2x20 ramp thing thing when unloading a ridgid 4511 i sold to someone. also, try to unpack as much of the saw as possible before attempting to unload it from the pick up.

[Jay Rasmussen]

Matt,
If’s there’s any way you can fit it in your shop and still be able to get around safety I would keep it. If not chock it up to “should have investigated further before I bought” and take it back. It probably will be too late after you make a cut with it.
However I often use the extra length on my Unisaw as a nice light duty work bench

[Don Jarvie]

By all means keep it. I added an extension table tp my PM 66 and it goes out to 44 inches. I already wished I had a few more but oh well. Try to make it work you'll be thankfull the 1st time you rip over 36 inches.

[Rod Sheridan]

Matt, I bought a cabinet saw and when I ordered it I specified a 32" rip width, when I replaced it with a slider I bought a similar size.

How many times do you build cabinets larger than 32" wide?

To me the extra shop space is more important than a saw capacity I'll never use.........Rod.

[Russ D Wood]

I have a one man shop and I can't handle the heavy full size sheets all by myself. So I added a lot of table around my table saw. I allows me to cut and slide the pieces around by myself. Very safe and easy to work with. Russ

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[Van Huskey]

IF you can live with it now, my question would be will you always be limited to 15x15 work shop?

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Congrats on the new saw! I have the PCS and went with the 52" rails figuring I would regret the shorter ones if/when I ever needed the extra capacity. My shop is about 13x16 so it's not too much different than yours. I recently went through the debate of going back to the shorter rails, because things seemed a little cramped. I am glad that I kept the longer size, and I made it work by repositioning the saw. The extra space is hand as an extra work surface too, and I added a router lift in the extension wing which helps with space as well.

I would suggest marking out the different sizes on your shop floor - cardboard works well, because you can easily move it around to try different locations.

[Henry Ambrose]

I have a one man shop and I can't handle the heavy full size sheets all by myself. So I added a lot of table around my table saw. I allows me to cut and slide the pieces around by myself. Very safe and easy to work with. Russ

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I'll second this and add that sometimes all that saw table top is a good workbench too.

[Richard Shaefer]

Keep the bigger fence and side table, and I mean that double for a small shop. I have the 52" fence on my saw stop and the side table has become my workbench complete with face vice, drawers, and hand plane till. Use the side table for more than just freeboard for the fence and you'll save more space than it costs you.

[Chris Damm]

I would just call Bubba and Junior over, have them unload it while I got the beer ready! I would siick with the 52" because you can do small work on a big machine but not the other way around.

[Curt Harms]

Matt, I bought a cabinet saw and when I ordered it I specified a 32" rip width, when I replaced it with a slider I bought a similar size.

How many times do you build cabinets larger than 32" wide?

To me the extra shop space is more important than a saw capacity I'll never use.........Rod.

I'll keep Rod company in the minority:). For cutting large panels I'll take an accurate saw board with a tuned saw and good blade. It sure is simple to break down sheet goods straight off the truck rather than wrestling 'em, especially in my case where the shop is down a set of stairs. Trim 'em on the table saw if you feel the need. As Rod says, how often do you need a finished panel more than 32"? Personal preference I'd rather use the space for a collapsible assembly table which is about a foot lower than a table saw extension. To each their own.

[Ben Hatcher]

Got a hack saw? If so, you can make that 52" rail any length you want. I cut about 8" off the end of mine in order to save some floor space.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I had 52" rails on my sawstop. I've since added a sliding table attachment to the left of the blade. Since then I've cut the rails down such that I get something like 40" rip capacity. If you have a sliding table, you can do your cross cuts on 4x8 sheets on the sliding table and you can do your rip cuts with the rip fence... which means you'll never need more than 47" of rip capacity, and I can't imagine you'd even need that more often.

So I'm in the minority with Rod, with the caveat that this only applies when you have a sliding table (which I'm aware you don't have). When will you ever need more rip capacity than the depth of a cabinet?

[John A langley]

If it was me, I'd hang onto the 52"ones and if you were really worried about room, you could set it up with the 36" ones and if you had a project that had a lot of large panels you could change your rails. I know its a lot of work. The other option you have is go with the 36"'s and buy a Festool Tracksaw. That's a lot of money

[Rick Gustafson]

Matt;

You might look into just buying a set of short rails to replace your long ones. You could re-install the long ones when you get a larger shop.

My 2 cents worth.